Hi there,Tomorrow is my 'debut' in the triathlon scene, looking forward to it.

It is only an enticer (250m swim, 10kms bike and 2.5km run) and I am interested to see how I will go.

My main interest in cycling and am currently in training for a 1,000km ride, doing about 500kms per month at the moment with the aim to step up to 350km per week over the next 5 months. My fitness is quite good.

I thought about the Tri's as a way to vary training and fitness then have now re-assesed my goals over say the next 12 mths. Once I have this 1,000km ride out of the way I was thinking about doing a Sprint (750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run) by the end of next summer.

I am 38 years old and have thought about completing a half Ironman by the time I am 40..

Are these realistic goals?

I know it depends on how much you put in training. I work full time and have a family so I cannot dedicate my whole life to it but I think it would be a goal to go for.

I did my first try in December 09 which was a sprint. 750 swim, 20km bike, 5km run took me about 1:20 from memory.

My next triathlon was a half ironman in November 2010. I averaged about 5-6 hours a week training at most. Did it in just under 6 hours.

Now I am training for the same race in November this year, trying to go under 5:30.

A year or 2 is heaps of time to get in shape to finish a half without it taking over your life. Just be aware most HIM and IM sell out very quickly so you may have to enter well in advance. My HIM I have to enter at the end of may for a November race.

Hi there,Well I entered and finished I know it is only a small distance but I was quite happy with getting throught it. I had not done any training for it as it was a last minute thing, so most of my fitness was done through my cycling.I was quite aprehensive waiting to jump in the water but was also was trying to keep myself calm. Anyway the horn went off and away we went and I was finding it a bit hard to keep orientated in to the water. Later on my wife told me that I was about 4th or 5th out of the water in my group which I was quite surprised about. The transition went quite weel onto the bike, but it took about 2.5kms to get the legs feeling ok and then I got into a sort of rythem. I was pushing a bit but also trying to save myself for the run as I knew that would be my hardest leg. My average on the bike was 30.2km/h for a time of 19min 43s.When I got onto the run it was only about 100m into it when I got a MASSIVE stich on the right side of my body. I tried to run it out but after about 300-400mts I had to walk it out. Had to do that twice but managed to run the last 1.5kms.I think my time was in the 45min rage (I have to wait for the official times to be released) but overall I was quite pleased. But I know I have to do some more training in the swim and run. I will give it another go for sure and I know I have to get A LOT fitter to be able to complete the sprint.

It was great fun and really well run, looking forward to the next one.

Hi there,Tomorrow is my 'debut' in the triathlon scene, looking forward to it.

It is only an enticer (250m swim, 10kms bike and 2.5km run) and I am interested to see how I will go.

My main interest in cycling and am currently in training for a 1,000km ride, doing about 500kms per month at the moment with the aim to step up to 350km per week over the next 5 months. My fitness is quite good.

I thought about the Tri's as a way to vary training and fitness then have now re-assesed my goals over say the next 12 mths. Once I have this 1,000km ride out of the way I was thinking about doing a Sprint (750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run) by the end of next summer.

I am 38 years old and have thought about completing a half Ironman by the time I am 40..

Are these realistic goals?

I know it depends on how much you put in training. I work full time and have a family so I cannot dedicate my whole life to it but I think it would be a goal to go for.

CheersCarl

hey Carl,

I did my first triathlon in Nov last year and loved it. I then did another 6 or 7 during the season.

Your goals are definitely achievable as long as you can fit some training in somewhere, no matter how short it is. I work full time and have a family (I'm 35) and my goal is to do my first half ironman at the end of 2012 (Canberra or Shepparton). I come from a background in swimming and some running and never really got into cycling until October last year when I realised I had about 6 weeks til my first tri. I should have done the enticer like you (instead of the 'sprint') as I found the race really tough. 2 months later I did the Olympic tri distance and again found that really tough. I think it all comes down to laying a good base of fitness well before the season starts and then working on a few speed sessions whenever you can fit them in. By the end of the season I found my fitness had increased significantly. I have also found doing tris and the associated training great for weight loss as it shocks your body a lot more than say just running or riding for 2 hours.

I train in the garage (on the windtrainer after my son goes to bed) or run at lunchtime when it does not interrupt family life. I've signed up for the Kinglake ride and am thinking about doing the full marathon this year (did the half last year), thereby laying a large fitness base by the time Nov comes around this year.

I think the half-ironman is achievable for limited or moderate amounts of training - at least you haven't gone straight to wanting to do a full ironman!

Pretty happy with that. But as expected the run let me down.I will definately put some training for the swim and run before I do another Tri. I would like to see if I could get down to the 35-37min mark.

Well done!! Are you hooked now?? I did my first tri in December last year, then wound up doing all of them in that series (a total of 5 enticers). I love it! I'm preparing to do sprint sized ones next year, then aim for doing a half ironman in 2013. I suppose the main difference is that my main interest is in running rather than cycling Do you do a lot of swimming?? That's a pretty rocking time for a 250m ocean swim. The swim seems to be the weakest leg for a lot of triathletes. I love it personally I did a few open water swim events over summer for a bit of practice. Pack swimming in the ocean is something you can only learn by doing

Do you do a lot of swimming?? That's a pretty rocking time for a 250m ocean swim. The swim seems to be the weakest leg for a lot of triathletes. I love it personally I did a few open water swim events over summer for a bit of practice. Pack swimming in the ocean is something you can only learn by doing

Anyway, well done, and let us know how your training goes

S.

Hi there, no I dont do a lot of swimming to be honest but I have always been a reasonable swimmer from a young age. But, it wasnt an ocean swim, it was in a 'lake' at Penrith regatta centre. I will do some ocean practice when it gets warmer.I am very glad that I did it and I will be looking forward to doinf another once, I would like to complete a sprint event before next summer is over. And then like you will aim for a 1/2 Ironman by April 2013 (when I turn 40!!!)

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